Chances are good that, at some time in your life, you've taken a time management class, read about it in books, and tried to use an electronic or paper-based day planner to organize, prioritize and schedule your day. "Why, with this knowledge and these gadgets," you may ask, "do I still feel like I can't get everything done I need to?"

The answer is simple. Everything you ever learned about managing time is a complete waste of time because it doesn't work.

Before you can even begin to manage time, you must learn what time is. A dictionary defines time as "the point or period at which things occur." Put simply, time is when stuff happens.

There are two types of time: clock time and real time. In clock time, there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year. All time passes equally. When someone turns 50, they are exactly 50 years old, no more or no less.

In real time, all time is relative. Time flies or drags depending on what you're doing. Two hours at the Department of Motor Vehicles can feel like 12 years. And yet our 12-year-old children seem to have grown up in only two hours.

Which time describes the world in which you really live, real time or clock time?

The reason time management gadgets and systems don't work is that these systems are designed to manage clock time. Clock time is irrelevant. You don't live in or even have access to clock time. You live in real time, a world in which all time flies when you are having fun or drags when you are doing your taxes.

The good news is that real time is mental. It exists between your ears. You create it. Anything you create, you can manage. It's time to remove any self-sabotage or self-limitation you have around "not having enough time," or today not being "the right time" to start a business or manage your current business properly.

There are only three ways to spend time: thoughts, conversations and actions. Regardless of the type of business you own, your work will be composed of those three items.

As an entrepreneur, you may be frequently interrupted or pulled in different directions. While you cannot eliminate interruptions, you do get a say on how much time you will spend on them and how much time you will spend on the thoughts, conversations and actions that will lead you to success.

Practice the following techniques to become the master of your own time:

Carry a schedule and record all your thoughts, conversations and activities for a week. This will help you understand how much you can get done during the course of a day and where your precious moments are going. You'll see how much time is actually spent producing results and how much time is wasted on unproductive thoughts, conversations and actions.Any activity or conversation that's important to your success should have a time assigned to it. To-do lists get longer and longer to the point where they're unworkable. Appointment books work. Schedule appointments with yourself and create time blocks for high-priority thoughts, conversations, and actions. Schedule when they will begin and end. Have the discipline to keep these appointments.Plan to spend at least 50 percent of your time engaged in the thoughts, activities and conversations that produce most of your results.Schedule time for interruptions. Plan time to be pulled away from what you're doing. Take, for instance, the concept of having "office hours." Isn't "office hours" another way of saying "planned interruptions?"Take the first 30 minutes of every day to plan your day. Don't start your day until you complete your time plan. The most important time of your day is the time you schedule to schedule time.Take five minutes before every call and task to decide what result you want to attain. This will help you know what success looks like before you start. And it will also slow time down. Take five minutes after each call and activity to determine whether your desired result was achieved. If not, what was missing? How do you put what's missing in your next call or activity?Put up a "Do not disturb" sign when you absolutely have to get work done.Practice not answering the phone just because it's ringing and e-mails just because they show up. Disconnect instant messaging. Don't instantly give people your attention unless it's absolutely crucial in your business to offer an immediate human response. Instead, schedule a time to answer email and return phone calls.Block out other distractions like Facebook and other forms of social media unless you use these tools to generate business.Remember that it's impossible to get everything done. Also remember that odds are good that 20 percent of your thoughts, conversations and activities produce 80 percent of your results.

managing time , time management

How to Manage Time With 10 Tips That Work

Adewale Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Fact or Fable? Cell Phones Corrupt Credit Card Magnetic Strips

Key Points

Demagnetization simply means that one magnet has outperformed, or is stronger than, another magnet.
It is highly unlikely a credit card can be demagnetized by being close to a cell phone.
Despite claims of demagnetization, magnetic strips are more often corrupted by scratches and small bends.

Have you ever attempted to make a payment with your debit or credit card and been told the transaction could not be completed because your card had been demagnetized? Or, have you been warned by a hotel concierge to “Be sure to keep your cell phone away from your key card” for fear that it may demagnetize it? But, is a cell phone's magnetic force really strong enough to demagnetize your credit, identification or hotel key card?
In order to find the answer to this question, you must first understand how credit cards and other cards with magnetic information strips work.
To start with the basics, many cards - such as bank cards, ATM cards, driver’s licenses, membership cards, hotel key cards, and many arcade and amusement facility cards - use magnetic strips on the back to store identification information. The magnetic strip on a credit card, for example, often contains the cardholder’s name, account number, pin number, expiration date, country of issuance, security code and other pertinent information.
Card scanners “read” the programmed information on magnetic strips, which is encoded on tiny iron particles. These iron particles are aligned on a magnetic field, which means the data contained on the strip may be vulnerable to demagnetization by other items with magnetic fields stronger than that of the card. In laymen’s terms, demagnetization simply means that one magnet has outperformed, or is stronger than, another magnet. When this happens, the stronger magnet scrambles the information encoded onto the magnetic fields on your card’s magnetic strip.
So the question is: Is the magnetic field of a cell phone strong enough to demagnetize your credit card? Simply put, the answer is “no.”
Cards that adhere to industry standards, such as bank cards, are nearly impossible to demagnetize with the magnets available to the public, such as a refrigerator magnet, the magnets inside a wallet or purse, or the magnetic field in a cell phone. Generally, to demagnetize a credit card, it would take a 1,000 gauss magnetic field. For perspective, an MRI machine may have a 15,000 gauss magnetic field while typical magnetic items you come in contact with on a daily basis range from 0 to 100 gauss. For example, a good refrigerator magnet will typically have a magnetic field intensity of 100 gauss but a cell phone's magnetic field intensity ranges from just 1.2 to 10 milligauss. That said, it is highly unlikely that a credit card can be demagnetized from being in close proximity to a cell phone.
Despite claims of demagnetization, however, magnetic strips are more often corrupted by scratches and small bends. Even the faintest scratches can do enough damage to make your card's information unreadable

Technology

CAN PHONES DAMAGED ATM CARDS

Adewale Friday, 18 August 2017

What Is Leadership?

Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.– Professor Warren G. Bennis

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.– Dwight D. Eisenhower

The word "leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images, for example:

A political leader, pursuing a passionate, personal cause.An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his group to follow.An executive, developing her company's strategy to beat the competition.

Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to "win" as a team or an organization; and it is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring.

Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their people to the right destination, in a smooth and efficient way.

In this article, we'll focus on the process of leadership. In particular, we'll discuss the "transformational leadership" model, first proposed by James MacGregor Burns and then developed by Bernard Bass. This model highlights visionary thinking and bringing about change, instead of management processes that are designed to maintain and steadily improve current performance.

Note:

Leadership means different things to different people around the world, and different things in different situations. For example, it could relate to community leadership, religious leadership, political leadership, and leadership of campaigning groups.

This article focuses on the Western model of individual leadership, and discusses leadership in the workplace rather than in other areas.

Leadership: a Definition

According to the idea of transformational leadership , an effective leader is a person who does the following:

Creates an inspiring vision of the future.Motivates and inspires people to engage with that vision.Manages delivery of the vision.Coaches and builds a team, so that it is more effective at achieving the vision.

Leadership brings together the skills needed to do these things. We'll look at each element in more detail.

1. Creating an Inspiring Vision of the Future

In business, a vision is a realistic, convincing and attractive depiction of where you want to be in the future. Vision provides direction, sets priorities, and provides a marker, so that you can tell that you've achieved what you wanted to achieve.

To create a vision, leaders focus on an organization's strengths by using tools such as Porter's Five Forces , PEST Analysis , USP Analysis , Core Competence Analysis and SWOT Analysis to analyze their current situation. They think about how their industry is likely to evolve, and how their competitors are likely to behave. They look at how they can innovate successfully , and shape their businesses and their strategies to succeed in future marketplaces. And they test their visions with appropriate market research, and by assessing key risks using techniques such as Scenario Analysis .

Therefore, leadership is proactive – problem solving, looking ahead, and not being satisfied with things as they are.

Once they have developed their visions, leaders must make them compelling and convincing. A compelling vision is one that people can see, feel, understand, and embrace. Effective leaders provide a rich picture of what the future will look like when their visions have been realized. They tell inspiring stories , and explain their visions in ways that everyone can relate to.

Here, leadership combines the analytical side of vision creation with the passion of shared values, creating something that's really meaningful to the people being led.

2. Motivating and Inspiring People

A compelling vision provides the foundation for leadership. But it's leaders' ability to motivate and inspire people that helps them deliver that vision.

For example, when you start a new project, you will probably have lots of enthusiasm for it, so it's often easy to win support for it at the beginning. However, it can be difficult to find ways to keep your vision inspiring after the initial enthusiasm fades, especially if the team or organization needs to make significant changes in the way that it does things. Leaders recognize this, and they work hard throughout the project to connect their vision with people's individual needs, goals and aspirations.

One of the key ways they do this is through Expectancy Theory . Effective leaders link together two different expectations:

The expectation that hard work leads to good results.The expectation that good results lead to attractive rewards or incentives.

This motivates people to work hard to achieve success, because they expect to enjoy rewards – both intrinsic and extrinsic – as a result.

Other approaches include restating the vision in terms of the benefits it will bring to the team's customers, and taking frequent opportunities to communicate the vision in an attractive and engaging way.

What's particularly helpful here is when leaders have expert power . People admire and believe in these leaders because they are expert in what they do. They have credibility, and they've earned the right to ask people to listen to them and follow them. This makes it much easier for these leaders to motivate and inspire the people they lead.

Leaders can also motivate and influence people through their natural charisma and appeal, and through other sources of power , such as the power to pay bonuses or assign tasks to people. However, good leaders don't rely too much on these types of power to motivate and inspire others.

3. Managing Delivery of the Vision

This is the area of leadership that relates to management .

Leaders must ensure that the work needed to deliver the vision is properly managed – either by themselves, or by a dedicated manager or team of managers to whom the leader delegates this responsibility – and they need to ensure that their vision is delivered successfully.

To do this, team members need performance goals that are linked to the team's overall vision. Our article on Performance Management and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) explains one way of doing this, and our Project Management section explains another. And, for day-to-day management of delivering the vision, the Management By Wandering Around (MBWA) approach helps to ensure that what should happen, really happens.

Leaders also need to make sure they manage change effectively. This helps to ensure that the changes needed to deliver the vision are implemented smoothly and thoroughly, with the support and backing of the people affected.

4. Coaching and Building a Team to Achieve the Vision

Individual and team development are important activities carried out by transformational leaders. To develop a team, leaders must first understand team dynamics. Several well-established and popular models describe this, such as Belbin's Team Roles approach, and Bruce Tuckman's Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing theory .

A leader will then ensure that team members have the necessary skills and abilities to do their job and achieve the vision. They do this by giving and receiving feedback regularly, and by training and coaching people to improve individual and team performance.

Leadership also includes looking for leadership potential in others. By developing leadership skills within your team, you create an environment where you can continue success in the long term. And that's a true measure of great leadership.

Note:

The words "leader" and "leadership" are often used incorrectly to describe people who are actually managing. These individuals may be highly skilled, good at their jobs, and valuable to their organizations – but that just makes them excellent managers, not leaders.

So, be careful how you use the terms, and don't assume that people with "leader" in their job titles, people who describe themselves as "leaders," or even groups called "leadership teams" are actually creating and delivering transformational change.

A particular danger in these situations is that people or organizations that are being managed by such an individual or group think they're being led; but they're not. There may actually be no leadership at all, with no one setting a vision and no one being inspired. This can cause serious problems in the long term.

Key Points

Leadership can be hard to define and it means different things to different people.

In the transformational leadership model, leaders set direction and help themselves and others to do the right thing to move forward. To do this they create an inspiring vision, and then motivate and inspire others to reach that vision. They also manage delivery of the vision, either directly or indirectly, and build and coach their teams to make them ever stronger.

Effective leadership is about all of this – and it's exciting to be part of this journey!

Leadership

Who is a Leader

Adewale Sunday, 13 August 2017

Does coconut water have a magical effect as everyone claims? You have probably heard about coconut oil and the numerous benefits it offers. Now, you will read about the biggest advantages of coconut water of which you have probably not heard before.
You probably did not know that coconut water has a practical compatible structure with the blood plasma in human bloodstream. Moreover, coconut water was used in armed conflicts in the past as a replacement for blood and numerous lives were saved in long and exhausting battles.
Nowadays, coconut water is used all around the globe. You can find it in numerous markets which offer you the chance to use the beneficial advantages of this unbelievable fruit. Coconut water does not taste very pleasantly, but this should not be the reason to avoid one of the best detoxification waters in the world.
What happens when you drink this water?
When you consume coconut water you strengthen your immune system and you eliminate the bacteria which cause urinary tract infections, gonorrhea, gum diseases and viruses which cause cold, infection diseases and typhus.
It will not only increase your energy, but it will also increase the production of thyroid gland hormones. This water is also very good for people who suffer from kidney diseases since it reacts as a natural diuretic. It will cleanse the urinary tract and the bladder canals. It will remove the toxins from the body and ‘’crash’’ the kidney stones. Coconut water is good for digestion due to the high level of fibber which it contains. If you drink it regularly it will eliminate the gastric acid. You can drink it in big amounts, since it has low levels of fat. You will lose weight, thanks to water’s ability for keeping you sated and meanwhile it lowers the appetite.
If you have acne, oily or dry skin, all you need to do is to soak a cotton wool in the coconut water and apply it to the skin. It will clean and freshen up the skin, and most importantly, it will keep the pores open. If you mix the water with olive oil, you can cleanse your organism. This mixture can remove bowel parasites.
According to experts, you can solve several health problems during pregnancy with the help of coconut water. Drink one cup of coconut water every morning and you will balance the electrolytes whose misbalance can lead to hypertension, also known as high blood pressure.
If you drink alcohol during the night you will probably have headache in the morning. So, the next time when you exaggerate with alcohol, you will remember this ‘’savior’’ if you want to get rid of the headache. Additionally, it will also compensate for the lost fluids and you will overcome the nausea which is often related with hangover.
If you want your skin to be hydrated and radiant during the entire day, one cup of coconut water will be enough. Also, after several exhausting physical activities, you can drink coconut water and you will regain energy. It will refresh you and leave a positive influence on each body part.
Increase of energy, strong immune system, protection from bacteria and infections, weight loss… What more can you wish for?
Source: Diet Of Life

Health

Surprising Benefits of COCONUT WATER

Adewale Sunday, 6 August 2017

Surface Laptop

Starting from $999.00

Description

• Four tone-on-tone color combinations¹ and sleek, elegant design • Luxurious Alcantara material-covered keyboard • Ultra-thin and light laptop fits easily in your bag • Breeze through tasks with a powerful Intel Core processor • Up to 14.5 hours battery life⁶ for all-day power on the go • Discreetly hidden Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Audio Premium sound • Designed for Windows 10 S² streamlined for security and superior performance • 1 year of Office³ 365 Personal included Burgundy and Graphite Gold Laptop Ships by 9/30

Performance made personal

Go beyond the traditional laptop with Surface Laptop. It's backed by the best of Microsoft, including Windows and Office³, and delivers a natural typing experience enhanced by our signature Alcantara material-covered keyboard. Thin, light, and powerful, it fits easily in your bag.

The best of Windows and Office

Surface Laptop is designed for Windows 10 S²—streamlined for security and superior performance. By exclusively using Microsoft-verified apps from the Windows Store, Windows 10 S keeps you running fast and secure day in and day out. Enjoy the Windows you know, Microsoft-verified apps delivered via the Windows Store, and the convenience of the cloud.

Discover Windows 10 S >

Need to install professional tools or run non-Windows Store apps? Switch to Windows 10 Pro for free. Go to the Windows Store, search Windows 10 Pro.

Beautifully designed and crafted

Surface Laptop complements your personal style with the blend of texture, subtle details, and clean lines. Feel the luxurious touch of our Alcantara covered keyboard. The soft, durable material is created to easily wipe clean and offers a comfortable typing experience.

Four rich tone-on-tone color combinations

Clean and elegant, Surface Laptop complements your style with a choice of four rich tone-on-tone color combinations¹—Platinum, Burgundy, Cobalt Blue, and Graphite Gold.

The perfect balance of portability and performance

At just 2.76 pounds, Surface Laptop fits easily in your bag, provides all-day battery life⁶, and has a powerful Intel Core processor to handle demanding desktop programs. Enjoy Dolby Audio Premium sound without added bulk or speaker grills thanks to built-in Omnisonic speakers.

A stunning screen that responds to your touch

Experience faster, easier, more natural navigation—with razor-sharp resolution for photographs, videos, and presentations—on the vibrant 13.5-inch PixelSense Display with touchscreen. Enjoy more space for your ideas with an edge-to-edge display and ultra-thin bezel.

Best care and support at Microsoft Stores

When you buy a Surface from Microsoft Store, you'll receive unrivaled customer service and personalized care, including a 30-day return policy, 90 days of free technical phone support, 12 months in-store support and technical assistance, 1 complimentary training session, and more.

Tech specs

Software	Windows 10 S Prefer to run non-Store apps? Easily switch to Windows 10 Pro for free until Dec 31, 2017.2 Introductory offer: Includes 1 year of Office 365 Personal³
Display	Screen: 13.5 in PixelSense Display Resolution: 2256 x 1504 (201 PPI) Aspect ratio 3:2 3.4 million pixels Surface Pen⁵enabled Touch: 10-point multi-touch Corning Gorilla Glass
Processor	7th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7
Memory	4GB, 8GB, or 16GB RAM
Storage	Solid state drive (SSD) options: 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB⁴
Graphics	Intel HD 620 (i5) Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 (i7)
Camera, video and audio	Windows Hello face sign-in camera 720p HD camera (front-facing) Stereo microphones Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Audio Premium 3.5mm headphone jack
Ports	USB 3.0 3.5mm Headset jack mini DisplayPort Surface Connect
Wireless	Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n compatible Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0 LE
Battery life	Up to 14.5 hours video playback⁶
Security	TPM chip Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
Dimensions	12.13” x 8.79” x .57” (308.02 mm x 223.20 mm x 14.47 mm)
Weight	i5: 2.76 lbs (1.25 kg) i7: 2.83 lbs (1.28 kg)
Exterior	Casing: Aluminum Color: Platinum, Burgundy, Cobalt Blue, Graphite Gold¹
Sensors	Ambient light sensor
Warranty	1-year limited hardware warranty
What's in the box	Surface Laptop Power Supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents

FAQ

What operating system does Surface Laptop run?

Windows 10 S.

What is Windows 10 S?

Windows 10 S is a specific configuration of Windows 10 Pro that offers a familiar, productive Windows experience that’s streamlined for security and performance. By exclusively using apps in the Windows Store and ensuring that you browse safely with Microsoft Edge, Windows 10 S keeps you running fast and secure day in and day out.

Who is Windows 10 S designed for?

Windows 10 S was inspired by students and teachers and it’s the best Windows ever for schools. It’s also a great choice for any Windows user looking for consistent performance and advanced security. By limiting apps to those in the Windows Store, Windows 10 S is ideal for people who have everything they need in the Windows Store and prefer the peace of mind that comes with removing the risk of downloading apps from other places.

Can I switch to Windows 10 Pro?

Switching to Windows 10 Pro is easy. If you want to do more, like run non-Store apps or use advanced features like remote desktop and BitLocker, you can easily switch at any time.

• Simply go to the Settings Menu on your device, or visit the Windows Store to get started.

• Making the switch is free until December 31, 2017. After December 31, the cost for Windows 10 Pro will be $49.

Surface Laptop THE LATEST

Adewale Thursday, 3 August 2017

🌈 *S U G A R I S*
*P O I S O N*

🌈1. First factory to manufacture sugar was established by the British in 1866.

🌈2. Indians used to eat jaggery before this and seldom used to fall sick.

🌈3. To make sugar, sulphur is used, which is used in making fire crackers.
Sulphur is an element that, once it enters the body, it cannot be excerted from our body.

🌈4. Sugar increases cholesterol which is the main reason for heart attack.Sugar increases the weight of the body and thus we become fat.

🌈5. Sugar increases Blood Pressure. It is also the reason for Brain damaging clots.

🌈6. The sweetness in sugar is that of Sucrose, and this cannot be digested by human beings.

🌈7. To make sugar,
23 harmful ingredients / chemicals are used.

✔ Sugar is one of main reasons for getting diabetes.

✔ Sugar is the reason for burning in stomach.

✔ Sugar increases the level of Triglycerides in body.

✔ Sugar is the main reason for causing Paralysis.

✔ Instead of sugar use jaggery.

✔If you think this as an educative tip to the people, then please spread this information.

🌈 *Thank you*

Health

Effect of Sugar

Adewale Saturday, 22 April 2017

LIFE DURING AND AFTER BANKING
written by Alex ESomonu

By its nature, Banking Job exposes bankers and bank workers to lot of financial information. In the same vein, the job requires the staff of bank (being public attendants) to look good at all time. Even though many bankers complain of their take-home, one of the good paying jobs one could find around is still Banking Job. Besides, because it is a job that strives on integrity and trust, the credit rating given to Bankers in some quarters are very high. They are generally considered to be credit worthy. The implication of the above is that Bankers could easily use what they ‘want’ to use today and pay later. The earlier Bankers were deemed to be conservative. The ethics of the profession made them to be frugal in their spending. Because he was supposed to be a financial adviser to people who requires his services, the banker of yesteryears cultivated a very strict personal financial management principle. No wonder he earned himself the description ‘bankers are stingy’

Sequel to modernization, today bankers have thrown ethics into the dust bin. Today, Banks MD’s move around in their private jets, even when the treasures he strives on is the depositors’ Fund. Those who are even joining the bank at entry level are already pledging the income they have not earned against facilities, assets and liabilities taking today. An average Nigerian Banker lives above his means. A life of no savings for the raining day. A life full of portfolio of debts. Bankers, having taken all the loans they could take from their employer even go to other Banks and take more loans, without even considering the ability to pay back. You now see Cheques drawn on staff account being returned on the ground of insufficient fund. If the ‘dishonored cheque (dud cheque) Act of 1977 should be evoked against Nigerian Bankers, many of us would be cooling off behind the bar by now. Our livelihood now depends on credit card with a very high default rate. Many of us, if our employer asks us to go today, we have no ‘run rate’ that could keep us for one week. Our cheques which are supposed to be as good as Bank drafts are now been relegated to the background by our business partners. Why should this be? It is simply because of the way we manage our finance while in paid employment. The objective of my write-up is to identify the possible punctures in our approach to life as bankers and offer possible advise which could help us while out of the banking Job. Please get me right, I am not absorbing my self from the issue at stake for I am not a saint. My thought is that at the conclusion time, everyone, including me would have to ponder and have a rethink on certain things that requires improvement in our approach to life.

Reasons why Bankers have issue with their personal financial management.
These are numerous as they are described below.
(a)Societal expectation: To an average Nigerian, a Banker is always rich. In fact, some family member believes he owns the cash in the vault of the Bank. Most relations tend to tie their financial responsibilities to any member of their families working with a Bank. Since a friend of mine got a job as the second level officer in a new generation Bank, he has been the one forcefully saddled with all sorts of financial responsibilities both from his family members and the wife’s. He has automatically assumed the position of the financier of all projects and programmes undertaken by the family. As a banker he is very rich. After all, he works in the ‘house of money’. The unfortunate thing is that most of us even try to match-up with the societal expectation. Many of us would go and obtain loan to finance non-income generating ventures with a view to satisfying the people around us. People who would never get satisfied. People who will always come back for more.
(b)Behaviour of peers: Because a colleague of mine is riding a ‘Prado jeep’ I want to equally ride the same kind of car. Because he wears very expensive Italian jackets to the office, I want to wear same also. I easily forget that though we are equally born, we are not equally affluent. We may be earning the same salary at month end; this does not mean that we shoulder the same responsibilities. He might even have other source(s) of income (legitimate or otherwise) that I am not aware of. Why don’t I just face the reality and put my self in his proper financial level rather than running after someone’s arrant display of extravagance. This factor has made so many Bankers to become perpetual debtors to money lenders.
(c)Lack of budgetary spending: This sounds somehow unreasonable but you believing me or not, many Bankers spend their salary income without a forecast of their expenses. The only thing forecasted is the salary because they know their pay day in advance. Good budgets are not done in the heart. They are done on paper and religiously followed by heart at the point of spending. Many bankers buy goods impulsively. Nothing is planned ahead, just anything goes. No wonder many of us could just be bumped to by anyone selling many things we do not even need, and before a twinkle of an eye we would already be in for the deal. This is an indication of poor financial planning. Ask any of your colleagues about how much his daily earning is, I can bet it that he would have to compute and re-compute before he would give any answer. If you do not know your daily earning by heart, there is no way your daily spending would not outweigh your daily earning
(d)Poor healthy living: Health, they say is wealth. Perhaps because of the pressure of job, some bankers do not even take time to do regular medical check-up. Our minds are consistently focused on deposit mobilization. The effect of this is that medical defects hide for months and years in our body system without been attended to. This would impair productivity at work and when the situation becomes worse, it would lead to high medical expenditure.
I can continue to mention so many points on this, but for time and space constraints, let me dabble into other important aspects of discussion.

Tips on living a stress-free life during banking career

(a)Plan exit at entry: The day you take up a pay job should be the day you sit down and plan your entry out of the job. Get me right, I am not saying you should be pessimistic or jettisoning of career development. What I am saying is that having gotten your offer letter, discount your proposed monthly take home by at least 10% (it could be more) and use this as your personal pension fund allowance. In other words, if your entry level salary is say N80, 000.00 as proposed in your offer letter, simply assume that your take home salary is 90% of N80,000.00 which equals N72,000.00. The remaining balance of N8, 000.00(10%) should be transferred to your personal pension fund account on monthly basis. Make no mistake; do not maintain your personal pension fund account in a savings account in your bank or any other bank. Transfer it monthly to time-linked investment product maintained with reputable insurance company or fund manager. Please note that this part of your salary is not your usual monthly savings. It is untouchable until when you live your job. As your salary grows, of course your contribution grows and since it is invested for you by the fund manager, you earn income which is also capitalized. With this kind of arrangement, you have an assurance of happy life to a greater extent after you might have left the job. I must stress that this requires a serious discipline and it is better done when one is about to start a job than when the person is already used to spending all his salary.

(b) Cultivate a good saving culture: however hard it might be, save. Saving requires serious discipline and sacrifices. As long as the elementary principle of insatiability of human wants in economics is still valid, one wants would always outweigh his income. No one salary his enough. If your salary is increased today, you would only appreciate your management that month, the second month; your expenses would adjust in response to the increase in your salary. No wonder the motivational school of thought in management concluded that salary is never a motivator. However, if your salary is slashed down by your management by let say 20% today, you will not die, you will still cope, it might take time, your expenses would find a way of adjusting to the decrease in the income. So why don’t you further cut down your salary by additional 20% and put into your recurrent saving account. Any increase in your salary should never be viewed as an increase in income, rather as an increase in savings. Transfer such increase, if possible in, in entirety to your savings. Not because of today, but because of tomorrow. In addition to this, you could create emergency savings account for emergency situations.

© Avoid credit like a plaque: To the best of your ability, avoid spending what you would have tomorrow today. The only thing you have is what you have today. Use it judiciously. Do not make credit card your means of livelihood. This is simply an indication that you are living above your means. Where future expectation fails, credit obtained against them would put you under pressure. If expectation of future income fails and you are not owing, standard of living would only reduced, you would not be exposed to embarrassment. If you must take loan, credit card or any other form of credit, use them for an income generating venture. If a commercial bank is offering me a personal loan at 23% per annum and I have a secured investment opportunity that would fetch me 5% per month, I would be a dullard to refuse such a loan simply because I do not want to owe. At the same time I would be a bad decision maker if I refused to take loan to acquire a landed property of which I know if I become incapacitated to pay, I could dispose the property at a profit and pay up the indebtedness. What I am saying is that credit must be used for what would yield income more than the cost of the credit

(e)The salary you are receiving now is the last you would be paid: I am not cursing you. What I am saying is that treat every salary you earn as the last you would earn from the Bank. All of us would loose this job one day. We would all stop going to this place we go to everyday. Some would leave forcefully and some would leave willfully. Some would be celebrated, some would be frustrated. Some would be disgraced, some would be tactically disengaged. This is a bitter pill we must all swallow. It could happen at any time to any body at any bank. Remember how many people you knew in the bank when you joined, how many have left, how many have joined. Many would still join. Many would still leave. You would leave, I would leave. So we must appreciate every salary we earn. We must use it judiciously because we might not earn another. If Banks’ MDs could be thrown out like papers, tell me who is fortified.
(f)Love your job: There are millions of better jobs outside, but you do not have them. The job you do now deserves your best input. You must give all the commitment and attention you have to it. “If a man pays you, be loyal to him” ensure that you earn your pay. As long as you have not gotten another job, be diligent in the one that you do now. The Book of books says a man who is diligent in his work shall sit among princes. When you love your job, you would be happy doing what you do.
(g)Place premium on integrity: The quality of honesty you have within you determines the level of respect you earn from people. When people knows that you are honest and reliable, they are comfortable been with you. As a banker, the only thing you offer to your business parties is integrity. Never you issue a dud cheque. Your cheque is you. If your understanding of the power of a “Holder in due Course” of a negotiable instrument as codified in the bill of exchange Act 1990 is as same as mine, you would do everything to avoid anyone setting himself as a holder in due course against you on any financial instrument issued by you. Where circumstances made it imperative for you not to be able to honour your obligation, truthfully go to your business partner and negotiate for settlement time.
(h)Value relationships: Talent is not enough. This is the title of a very interesting book of John Maxwell. Compliment your talent with nourishment of good relationships you build. Allow no relationship to go sour. Give gift when necessary to massage your relationships. Every successful person is so successful not because of his professionalism, but because of his positive attitude towards relationship management. Those you meet today might be your helper of tomorrow.
(i)Have a life: Do not limit your existence to the confine of your bank and your family. Create fun for yourself. Take time out to see what operates in the other part of the world. Take advantage of your holiday to visit places (please do not borrow to do this). Life goes beyond cabal and DDA mobilization. In the same vein, eat good food, sleep well. Exercise your body system. Give yourself and your family good treat sometime.
(j)Have options: That you are not having another job does not mean you can not build a bank of business ideas. It does not even mean you can not establish businesses that could generate income as long as the management of such would not affect your banking Job. Have income from other sources for this is the key that opens the door of financial breakthrough. Please get my article referenced above on this.
(k)Develop yourself: Love to study? Please do. Go for world class certificate for this would increase your labour market worth. Many of us have being in the banking sector since almost three years now. The only certificate we are still carrying around is our first degree. First degree that is available everywhere. No self development, no further study. No wonder we can not throw in the towel any time our employer did not treat us nice enough. You have any natural talents, nurture and develop it that might be your key to amazing wealth and fame in life. You want to know more on this? Read my article titled the millionaire within you-your talent.
(l)Be a giver: no matter your condition, you are better than somebody. Someone somewhere needs your assistance, no matter little, reach out to them. When you give, you are automatically positioned to receive. Pay your tithe in the church. If a Muslim, give sakat. These position you for divine blessing.
(m)Invest in Assets: You’re upfront, your Performance Bonus are not meant to be squandered. Like your salary, view the one you receive today as the last you will receive. Use it judiciously. Invest them in secured income-generating ventures. Buy assets (not pleasurable rides) that would consolidate your wealth when you call it a quit.
(n)Be prayerful: There is nothing any man can do on earth except that which has been allowed by God. Maintain a cordial and flowing relationship with your creator. Let him be the ultimate decision maker in your life. He is the Banker of bankers and he will definitely show you the way.
Life after Banking
I may not be completely qualified to discuss this sub-head since I am still in the banking industry. Events around me however could form the basis of my perception on the issue. I have seen many bankers who came out of the system only to find themselves becoming laughing stocks in the society as they have nothing to show for their many years of service in the financial sector. Like I said earlier, one day, all of us would seize to come to this place we have hitherto be coming for our daily pay. Banks all over the country are downsizing to reduce staff cost. You are not better than those who are affected, neither are you more skillful. It can happen at any time. The motto like that of Boys’ scout society is Be prepared.
In addition to all the tips given above, this few points mentioned below would help you in living a happy life after Banking.

(a)Develop an entrepreneurial Skill: Build a value chain you can offer to the society. Your integrity tested and trusted while in banking job would help you generate business relationships, but this would only help if you have a value to offer.
(b)Attend seminars and workshops: load yourself up with useful information on your chosen endeavor. Attend business seminars and always develop new skill that would help you in providing solutions to issues.
(c)Mix up: Make yourself relevant in the society, not by showing off, but by supplying inputs where relevant. Join social clubs, church organizations, and charitable societies and attend occasions and participate.
Let me conclude at this junction by saying that the care and caution you exercise today would yield good returns today. For you to enjoy good life after banking, you must have to live good life during Banking. Today’s pain is tomorrow gain.